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Show 392 TilE DUEO SUO'l"l, U.\SK of scv :n ycnrs, an<l Hhttll l>c disposed of by the jusliccs us nJorestttd, ancl IJc applied to the uscl'l af'orc. aid." 'rho oLl ter colonial law to which wr refer \\''lSI> · , M . ' ' ,lSSC<1 1> y a.ssachusetts, 111 ~ 705, (ch. G.) his en tilled 1 1An Act fur the better prevcu t111g of a ~purions and mixed issue , & and it provides 11 Llw.t if any nerrro or muh.Lto L'lJ"ll ' c., . • b ' ~ <~ J>I'CKtinte to stnko or Slllite any person of the Eno·Ii ·h or otll Ol · • • b er ll'ltl-tltl. O natwn, sneh negro or mulatto shnll be severely 1 · . . w up pel1 at tho d1scret1on of the justice before whom tltc oil'cuuc; shall be convicted." And 11 thn.t none of her Mnjest.y' Eno-Jish or Scott' ·I 1. . n IS1Sllu· JCCts, nor of any other Christiun uation within this province shall contract matrimony with any negro or mulullo; 1101 : shall any per, on duly authorized to solem nize manin o·e }>r·e-t ' ' b I surnc o JOlll any such in HHtrring<', ou pain of' forfeitino- tho sum of fi~ty pound , Olle moiety thereof to her Mujest;, for n~H.l lowatd the support. of tho government within this pro. VHlcc, ai~d tho other moiety to him or them who shall inform m~d ~uo for the s.amc, in any of he!' Majesty's courts of record w1thm the provmce, by bill, plaint, or information." * * * * * * The language of the Declaration of I nc.1 e peu d once 1· s ~qually conclusive. It begins by declaring, that 11 l\Tbcn, m the cour~c of human events, it becomes necessary for ouo people :o dissolve the political bands which have connected them With another, and to assume among the powers of the caJ·th the separate and equal station to which the Jaws of na.ture, an.d .nature's God, entitled thorn, a decent rc'spect fm the optmons of mankind require that they should llcclnre the causes which impel th<'rn to the s paration." It t!Ien proceeds to say : ' 1 We hold these truths to bo s~Jf-cvrdcnt-'l'hat. all men arc created equal ; that they RI e endowed by the1r Creator with certain inalienable rights· that among them · }'~' l'b ' IS 110, I orty, and the pursuit of happi-ness ; that, to secure these rigllts, governments are insti .. 3D3 tu t cd , dcl·ivinoo- their just powers from th' conRent of tho governC( l · " 'l'IH' gcn('ral wonl:-~, above quoted, would ~<'<'I ll to_ <'tnl> t.·:w_e the whole hutll!Lil f'nmily; at1tl if' thi'Y Wl't'O u:-;C'd 111 :1 ~tlll ~ln. t· inslntmcnt at this d:ty, would he HO un di'I'H!ood. J,ut 1t is too clear for dispute, that th' cn:-~l;.tVcd A l'ricnn race ~v 'l'O uot intended to be iuclu<lcd, and fortlled 11 ~ par~ o.{ tho people who fntllle (1 and ndopletl Lllii:! J) 'ClaratJOil; for 1f tho l ungu .n..eb r o , as undcrsiood in that day, WOUI<l Ctllbrn.ce them, the conduct of tho d istinguiHh 'd men who fr:tmed tho Dcclnra1ion or Imlcpendcn ·e would hn.ve been nttcl'ly and flacrnw tly inconsi ·Lent with principle.' thry a:-; ·c rtec1 ; an<.l ins~ea<l of the sympathy of mankind to whi ·h lh<'y so ?onfidently appealed, they would have tlcl:)crvctl and rccetvcu univcnml rcuukc and reprolmlion. y ct, the men who fnuned th i~ Dcel ~t raLion were great men-high in literary acquircmcnts-IJigh in Lh~ir seu.:-;e of hono1·, and incapable of asserting principles wconHistent with those on which they were acting. They perfectly understood tho meaning of the language they use<l, and bow it would be understood by oth rs ; and they knew that it would not, in any pm'i of the civilizeu world, uc supposed to cmurace the negro race, which, by common cousent, had ucen excluded from civilized government UllU the family or nations aut! doomed to slavery. 'l'hey spoke and acted uccordi,ncr to the then estaulishc<l doctrine and principles, b l . and in the ordinary language of tho day, am no one mts-nnuerstood them. '.rile unlwppy black race were separated from the white by in(1cliblc nmrks, a.ntl ln.ws long before established, am1 were 11ever thought or spoken of except as property, nncl when the claims of the owners,. or the prollt of the trader, were supposed to ncC'd proteclton. 'fhis slate or public opinion had received or unucrgone no chango when the Coustituiion was adopted, as is equally evident from its provisions and language. * * * * * |